Five-year-old Murtaza, from a poor family in the Jaghori district in the central province of Ghazni, was the centre of a worldwide search after a photo of his shirt went viral.

Murtaza's brother created the shirt, made from a plastic grocery bag, after he was unable to get his hands on a real jersey.

The pictures were shared around the world and on Monday, the Afghan Football Federation confirmed that it was in contact with members of Messi's team to arrange for the youngster to meet his idol.

Murtaza was found after a false sighting, meaning that the search for the boy's true identity continued.

The search was sparked when popular Messi account 'messi10stats' revealed that they received a direct message from the Argentinian's representatives to find the boy.

And Kurdish TV channel Kurdistan24tv claimed to have found the young boy in Iraq - but it turned out not to be him.

The video showed a child identified as Homid, who said: "I like Messi. He is a brilliant player."

(Image: Kurdistan24)

In the video, Homid was wearing a more recent red and blue Barcelona shirt, with No.10 on the back, again in homage to his hero.

He talked about how his father is fighting with the Kurdish Peshmerga against ISIS.

Homid is living with his mother at their home in Dohuk, Iraq.

(Image: AFP/Getty)

Widely regarded as the greatest player in history, the unassuming Argentina forward has become a Barcelona legend winning a succession of La Liga and Champions League titles while breaking new goal scoring records practically every season.